Refrigerating apparatus



y 1940 E. B. NEWILL 2,207,595

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed April 25, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.I an 4A! .3. NEW/41..

HIS ATTORNEYS Patented July 9, 1940 PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATINGAPPARATUS Edward B. Newill, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General MotorsCorporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application April25, 1936, Serial No. 76,438

Claims.

This invention relates to liquid congealing apparatus and particularlyto a tray structure having a grid therein for forming ice blockssuitable for table use.

It is an object of my' invention to provide an improved tray structurefor congealing or freezing liquids.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved flexiblemetallic ice tray for use in refrigerating apparatus.

A further object of my invention is to provide a metallic ice trayhaving resilient walls that can be flexed to break the bond between icein the tray and the tray walls to thereby facilitate removal of flexingthe resilient tray walls.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearlyshown.

In the drawingsi Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an ice tray constructed inaccordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1 showing inelevation a device for flexing the tray walls in associated positionwith the Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the tray disclosed in Fig. 1showing the walls of the tray after being flexed by the device disclosedin Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 and is taken on the line4-4 of Fig. 3 showing the tray walls in a position after having beenflexed by the flexing device; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged top plan view ofa portion of the tray to moreclearly show the walls thereof flexed outwardly away from ice containedtherein.

Referring to the drawings for a detailed description of the invention,numeral I0 designates generally a tray preferably formedof-resilient orflexible metal such, for example, as stainless steel,

45 since this material is a good conductor of heat,

is highly flexible and is non-corrosive. The tray I0 is of the typeadapted to be placed in or on a cooling element of a refrigeratingsystem and adapted to contain a grid of any suitable or con-- 50ventional construction for dividing the'interior thereof into aplurality of open top compartments so that water placed in the tray willbe frozen into ice blocks. flexible rubber trays have been employed foruse with refrigerating apparatus, but these rubber ice therefrom and toprovide a novel device for I am aware of the fact that thereof.Obviously, therefore, a metal tray with a metal grid thereinis moredesirable for such use. While I have described the tray of the presentinvention as having a conventional grid disposed therein, it is to beunderstood that any type of grid may be disposed in the tray. Forexample, grids of the type shown in the patents to Jules N. Saler No.2,037,518, No. 2,037,519, and No., 2,037,521, dated April 14, 1936,which are constructed in a manner so as to be flexible after removalthereof from a tray to facilitate the removal of ice blocks therefromwithout application of heat to the grid, may be used in combination withmy improvedtray.

The tray l0 of the present invention is preferably formed by being drawnfrom a flat sheet of resilient stainless steel to provide a bottom wallII and upstanding side and end walls l2. The upper extremity I 3 of thewalls I2 is folded over as at It to provide rigidity along the top ofthe tray. The resiliency of the walls I I and I2 is such that theynormally retain a predetermined bowed position even when the tray isfilled ith water or other substance to be frozen. It will be noted thatthe resilient bottom wall II is formed so as to retain a slightly bowedupward position as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings while the side andend walls l2 are formed so as to retain an'inwardly bowed position asshown in Fig. 1. A unitary grid l6 placed in tray III to divide theinterior thereof into a plurality of open top molds or compartmentsincludes a vertically disposed longitudinal partition I! and a pluralityof transverse partitions 18. The transverse partitions l8 nearest thecentral part of grid 16 are made shorter than partitions I8 near theends of the grid so as to cause'the grid to conform to the planularcontour of the'space between the tray walls I2. The bottom portion oredges of the grid l6 are cut on a curve to conform to the slightlycurved contour of the tray bottom I I. Thus, it will be apparent thatthe bottom and the side edges of the .grid l6 fit closely adjacent thewalls of tray l0 when the tray is in its normal or predeterminedretained position as shown in guiding grooves for receiving the arms ,orlegs of an expansion or flexing device, gen ax ally represented by thereference character .21, utilized for a purpose to now be described. v

The expansion device 2| comprises a pair of legs or arms 22 pivotallymounted upon a pin or shaft 23. The pin or shaft 23 passes through andis secured to a bracket member 24 which has a knob or handle portion 25mounted thereon or if desired formed integral therewith;' The device 2|is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 as being in a position adapted to have forceapplied thereto for expanding the resilient walls H and I2 of tray loutwardly from ice in the tray, but it is to be understood that thedevice 2| is normally cletached or removed from the tray. Assuming thatthe contents of the tray have been frozen, the tray removed from thecooling element of a refrigerating system and the device 2| moved intoassociation with the tray with the legs or arms 22 thereof fitting inthe grooves provided by the outwardly directed portions l9 on'tray Illthen a downward force'applied tothe knob or handle 25 will move the legsor arms 22 thereof outwardly and such movement will flex the side wallsl2 of tray l0 outwardly from the frozen contents of the tray to break anice bond therebetween. The construction of tray l0 and the resilientcharacteristics of the bowed metal walls thereof are such that, when theoperation just described is being carried out, the end walls of the traytend to move outwardly relative to ice in the tray to thus peel the endwalls therefrom. Due tothe curved or bowed formation of the bottom wallI of tray l0, it is inherent in the structure disclosed that this bottomwall will also be flexed out of its normal position or moved away fromice in the tray after the side walls have been loosened. 'This movementor flexed position of the resilient walls and |2 of tray I0 is clearlyillustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 of the drawings.

1 By referring to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, it will be noted that there is aspace 26 along and between the ice in tray l0 and its flexed side wallsl2, a space 21 along and between the ice in tray l0 and its flexed endwalls l2 and a' space 28 along and between the ice in tray l0 and itsflexed bottom wall thereby illustrating the separation of the tray wallsfrom the ice. All of the metal walls of tray ID are thus substantiallypeeled away from ice frozen in the tray to thereby permit removal of theice along with grid l6 therefrom without application of heat to thetray. After the ice bond between walls of the tray l0 and ice thereinhas been broken, the device 2|. is removed or detached from the tray andtray is .then inverted to permit the ice together with grid I6 to'fallor slide out of the tray. After the ice and the grid l6 have beenremoved from the tray ID, the ice may be removed or harvested from gridIS in any suitable or desirable manner. It

tray to be frozen without unduly flexing the walls out of their normalpredetermined bowed position.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided-an improvedmetallic ice tray construction which may be readily and easily manuallyflexed to remove the frozen contents therefrom, thus eliminating thenecessity of applying heat in the form of warm water, for example, tothe tray to cause removal of its frozen contents. My improved trayandthemethod of removing ice'therefrom as described permits the ice toretain latent heat stored therein and renders the ice blocks removedtherefrom more emcient in cooling drinks, etc.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed,constitutes a preferred form,

. end walls, respectively, apart and thereby break an ice bond betweensaid tray walls and ice contained therein.

2. An ice tray having resilient metallic side, end and bottom walls, allof said Walls being normally slightly bowed, said tray being constructedand arranged so that an outward pressure when applied to an intermediatepoint of each of said 'side walls will spread the side walls apart andflex the bowed bottom and end walls to thereby break an ice bond betweensaid tray walls and ice contained therein.

3. An ice tray having a resilient metallic bottom wall, opposedresilient metallic upright side walls and opposed resilient metallicuprlghtend walls, said side and said end walls being normally slightlybowed inwardly, said tray being constructed and arranged so that anoutward pressure when applied to an intermediate point of each ofcertain of said opposed upright bowed walls will spread same apart andflex each of the other of the opposed upright bowedwalls and theresilient tray bottom wall to thereby break an ice bond between saidtray walls and ice. contained therein.

4. An ice tray having resilient metallic side, end and bottom walls,said side walls being normally slightly bowed inwardly, means associatedwith the tray for applying an outward pressure to an intermediate pointof each of said side walls to spread saidside and -end walls,respectively,'

apart and thereby break an ice bond between said tray walls and icecontained therein.

5. An ice tray having resilient metallic side, end and bottom walls,said side walls'being normally slightly bowed inwardly, expansible meansassociated. with the tray and having. a part thereof engaging anintermediate point of each of said side walls for applying an outwardpressure thereto to spread said side and end walls, respectively, apartand thereby break an ice bond between said tray walls and ice containedtherein.

EDWARD B. NEwnL.

